Living Ape-Men

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As far as Sasquatch footprints are concerned, independent witnesses have examined and reported hundreds of sets, and of these more than 100 have been preserved in photographs and casts (Green 1978, p. 348). Napier stated: "if any of them is real then as scientists we have a lot to explain. Among other things we shall have to re-write the story of human evolution ... and we shall have to admit that there are still major mysteries to be solved in the world we thought we knew so well" (1973, p. 204).

Critics, however, assert that all these footprints have been faked. Undoubtedly, some footprints have been faked, a fact the staunchest supporters of the Sasquatch will readily admit. But could every single one of them be a hoax? Napier (1973, p. 124) stated that if all the prints are fakes "then we must be prepared to accept the existence of a conspiracy of Mafia-like ramifications with cells in practically every major township from San Francisco to Vancouver."

Grover S. Krantz, an anthropologist at Washington State University, was initially skeptical of Sasquatch reports. In order to determine whether or not the creature really existed, Krantz studied in detail some prints found in 1970 in north-east Washington State. In reconstructing the skeletal structure of the foot from the print, he noted that the ankle was positioned more forward than in a human foot. Taking into consideration the reported height and weight of an adult Sasquatch, Krantz, using his knowledge of physical anthropology, calculated just how far forward the ankle would have to be set. Returning to the prints, he found that the position of the ankle exactly matched his theoretical calculations. "That's when I decided the thing is real," said Krantz. "There is no way a faker could have known how far forward to set that ankle. It took me a couple of months to work it out with the casts in hand, so you have to figure how much smarter a faker would've had to be" (Huyghe 1984, p. 94).

Krantz (1983) and wildman expert John Green (1978, pp. 349-356) have written extensive reports on the North American footprint evidence. Typically the prints are 14 to 18 inches long and 5 to 9 inches wide, giving a surface roughly 3 to 4 times larger than that of an average human foot. Hence the popular name Bigfoot. To make a Sasquatch footprint as deep as an average human footprint would require a weight 3 to 4 times greater than that of an average-sized man. In all cases, however, whether the prints are in snow, mud, dirt, or wet sand, the Sasquatch prints are much deeper than those made by a man walking right next to them in the same material. Thus a weight of more than 3 or 4 times that of a man is required to make the Sasquatch prints. Green, wearing large fake feet and carrying 250 pounds on his back (for a total of 450 pounds), was unable to make a deep enough impression in firm wet sand. Moreover, Green's fake feet were only 14.5 inches long, small for a Sasquatch. Larger feet would have produced impressions of even smaller depth in the sand. Krantz (1983) estimated that to make typical Sasquatch prints a total weight of at least 700 pounds is required. Thus a 200-pound man would have to be carrying at least 500 pounds to make a good print.

But that is only the beginning. There are reports of series of prints extending from three-quarters of a mile up to several miles, in deserted regions far away from the nearest roads. The stride length of a Sasquatch varies from 4 to 6 feet (the stride length of an average man is about 3 feet). Try walking a mile with at least 500 pounds on your back and taking strides 5 feet long.

"A footprint machine, a kind of mechanical stamp, has been suggested," stated Napier (1973, p. 125), "but an apparatus capable of delivering a thrust of approximately 800 lb. per square foot that can be manhandled over rough and mountainous country puts a strain on one's credulity." In addition, said Napier (1973, p. 125), careful studies of Sasquatch prints by Dr. Maurice Tripp, a geologist, revealed that impact ridges, which a footprint machine would be expected to leave, were not present.

Some of the reported series of tracks were in fresh snow, enabling observers to verify that no other marks were made at the ground level by some machine paralleling the prints. In several cases, the Sasquatch footprints indicated the maker strode over large logs, which a human of normal size could not have gotten over without disturbing the fresh snow clearly visible on their tops. Sometimes the Sasquatch prints went up or down embankments. In some cases, the distance between the toes of the footprints varied from one print to the next in a single series of prints. This means that besides all the other problems facing a hoaxer, he would have had to incorporate moving parts into his artificial feet.

Furthermore, in order to insure that some of his fake prints would be found, any hoaxer would probably have had to make more trails of footprints than were actually discovered — and that means a lot of work.

What about a device operated from a hovering craft? Such a device would undoubtedly be very expensive. A helicopter alone is not a cheap item, and a custom device for making the footprints would also cost a bit. Also, footprints have been found at the same time that a Sasquatch was actually seen or soon thereafter, as, for example, in the Patterson sighting in 1967 and the Chapman sighting in 1941. In other cases, people sleeping at campsites or work sites have gotten up in the morning and found newly made footprints nearby. In one case, the footprints went right alongside a man's camper truck (Green 1978, p. 352). If the prints had been made by a stamping machine, operated on the ground or from a helicopter, the people reporting the prints almost certainly would have been awakened.

In conclusion, critics have failed to explain all the footprints as the work of hoaxers. It would seem, therefore, that the footprints argue strongly for the reality of the Sasquatch, as demonstrated by the following case.

On June 10, 1982, Paul Freeman, a U.S. Forest Service patrolman tracking elk in the Walla Walla district of Washington State, observed a hairy biped around 8 feet tall, standing about 60 yards from him. After 30 seconds, the large animal walked away (Huyghe 1984, p. 94). Krantz (1983) studied casts of the creature's footprints and found dermal ridges, sweat pores, and other features in the proper places for large primate feet. Detailed skin impressions on the side walls of the prints indicated the presence of a flexible sole pad.

Krantz solicited opinions from other scholars and fingerprint experts. Tatyana Gladkova, a specialist in dermatoglyphics from the USSR Institute of Anthropology, said: "I see dermal ridges of the arch type distally directed. I see sweat pores. If it's a fake, it' s a brilliant fake, on the level of counterfeiting, and by someone well versed in dermatoglyphics" (Krantz 1983, p. 78).

Douglas M. Monsoor, a master police fingerprint examiner from Lakewood, Colorado, stated: "I see the presence of ridge structure in these casts, which, in my examination, appears consistent with that type of ridge structure you would find in a human. Under magnification, they evidence all the minute characteristics similar to human dermal ridges....If hoaxing were involved, I can conceive of no way in which it could have been done. They appear to be casts of impressions of a primate foot — of a creature different from any of which I am aware" (Krantz 1983, p. 79).

Ten years earlier, John R. Napier (1973, p. 125) declared that he found the prints he himself studied "biologically convincing." Napier (1973, pp. 204-205) stated: "The evidence that I have examined persuades me that some of the tracks are real, and that they are manlike in form. ... But when the size of the tracks is taken into account, and the conclusion is reached that the man-like creature in question has a stature of at least 8 ft. and weighs upward of 800 lb., the mind starts to boggle at such a preposterous idea. The vision of such creatures stomping barefoot through the forests of north-west America, unknown to science, is beyond common sense. Yet reason argues this is the case.... Thomas Huxley's aphorism that 'logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men puts steel into my soul....I am convinced that the Sasquatch exists." Coming from a scientist who headed the primate program at the Smithsonian Institution, this is a very strong statement. Napier is also one of Great Britain's leading experts in the field of primate anatomy. His name will come up often in our discussion of hominid fossil discoveries in Africa.

In the face of much good evidence, why do almost all anthropologists and zoologists remain silent about Sasquatch? Krantz observed, "They are scared for their reputations and their jobs" (Huyghe 1984, p. 96). Napier similarly noted: "One of the problems, perhaps the greatest problem, in investigating Sasquatch sightings is the suspicion with which people who claim to have seen a Sasquatch are treated by their neighbours and employers. To admit such an experience is, in some areas, to risk personal reputation, social status and professional credibility" (1973, p. 88). In particular, he told of "the case of a highly qualified oil company geologist who told his story but insisted that his name should not be mentioned for fear of dismissal by his company" (Napier 1973, p. 88). In this regard, Roderick Sprague, an anthropologist from the University of Idaho, said of Krantz: "It is Krantz's willingness to openly investigate the unknown that has cost him the respect of many colleagues as well as timely academic promotion" (1986, p.103).

The majority of the Sasquatch reports come from the north-western United States and British Columbia. However, there are also numerous reports from the eastern parts of the United States and Canada. For example, Green (1978) stated that there were, as of 1977, 11 reports from New York, more than 24 reports from Pennsylvania, 19 reports from Ohio, 18 from Michigan, 9 from Tennessee, more than 36 from New Jersey, 19 from Arkansas, 23 from Illinois, 30 from Texas, and 104 (maybe more) from Florida. Moving out west, Green recorded 74 reports from Montana, 32 from Idaho, 176 from Oregon, 281 from Washington, 225 from British Columbia, and 343 from California.

The volume of reports from the Pacific Northwest caused John R. Napier (1973, p. 96) to state: "The North American Bigfoot or Sasquatch has a lot going for it. It is impossible on the evidence ... to say that it does not exist. Too many people claim to have seen it or at least to have seen footprints to dismiss its reality out of hand. To suggest that hundreds of people at worst are lying or, at best, deluding themselves is neither proper nor realistic."

"One is forced to conclude," said Napier, "that a man-like life-form of gigantic proportions is living at the present time in the wild areas of the north-western United States and British Columbia.... That such a creature should be alive and kicking in our midst, unrecognized and unclassifiable, is a profound blow to the credibility of modern anthropology" (Green 1978, p. 12). It might also be said that the existence of living ape-men in North America, from Washington and Oregon to Florida and New Jersey, is a blow not only to anthropology, but to biology, zoology, and science in general.

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From: Forbidden Archaeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race, Michael A. Cremo and Richard L. Thompson (Bhaktivedanta Book Publishing, 1996).